Egypt Today live coverage of Arish terrorist attack

CAIRO – 25 November 2017: Considered the deadliest terrorist attack hitting Egypt in its recent history, Rawdah mosque terrorist attack still echoes domestically and globally.

Rawdah village
The village of Rawdah lies 20 km away from Arish city, Northern Sinai and it is home to close to 2500 people. According to reports and townspeople, the mosque is permanently used by Sufi followers which are a branch of Sunni Islam that is often descried as Islamic Mysticism and seen by extremists as apostasy.

Egypt today briefs you on the latest happenings and the implications of Arish Mosque attack, which left over 200 hundred dead and dozens injured. From latest to oldest:

• The Interior Ministry declared on Saturday a state of high alert nationwide in the aftermath of the terror attack.

• Death toll rose to 305, including 27 children and 128 more people were wounded, according to Attorney General Statement.

• A group of 25 to 30 armed terrorists hoisting Islamic State (IS) terrorist group flag standing in front of the Al-Rawdah Mosque doors and opened fire on Friday prayer congregates after a bomb was detonated outside the mosque, according to the General Prosecution.

• President Abdel Fatah al-Sis received a telephone call from Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, who offered his sincere condolences for the victims of the abhorrent terrorist attack in Northern Sinai, expressing his solidarity with Egypt in the face of terrorism.

• Canada’s CN tower has been lit up with colors of the Egyptian flag in tribute to the lives that were lost to the terrorist attack.

• President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi ordered the armed forces to establish a memorial for the martyrs of the Arish mosque attack on Saturday.

• British and Bahraini Embassies headquarters lowered its flag to half-mast in mourning of the victims of the attack.

• Initial reports of the investigations showed that the attackers used RPGs and automatic rifles.

• The bloody terrorist attack that hit the main mosque in North Sinai’s Rawdah village on Friday took the lives of roughly 22 percent of its male residents. The village’s population is not more than 2,111 people, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics’ (CAPMAS) 2016 report.

• President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi held an urgent meeting following the attack concerning the latest developments and issue directives to contain the situation.

• In a TV statement, Sisi said that Egypt will respond to this attack in, “Brute force against that small band of extremist terrorist.”

• International condemnations poured in immediately after the attack took place.

• Three-day state mourning was announced; meanwhile, international condemnations have been issued in numerous statements worldwide. A total of LE 200,000 ($11,300) and LE 50,000 will be dispensed to the family of each worshiper who died and each injured victim, respectively.

• Grand Mufti of Egypt Shawki Allam said that the perpetrators of such deeds must be murdered or crucified; contending that the killing of innocents amounts to committing a, "Disobedience to Allah and spreading mischief in the land.”


• National flag lowered half-mast over cabinet headquarter.

• According to eye witnesses, the attackers came out initially riding all-terrain vehicles which they ditched 150 meters away from the mosque. Then they set off a bomb in the vicinity of the mosque, and started opening fire at the worshippers inside and outside the mosque. They also targeted ambulances at the crime scene and set cars nearby ablaze.

• They fled the crime scene using land cruisers, according to townspeople.

• The terrorist attack occurred during Friday sermon segment at around 12:20 pm.